IF OBEDIENCE, THEN BLESSING

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

"See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him.”

“If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out. Do not bow down before their gods or worship them or follow their practices. You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces.”

“Worship the Lord your God, and His blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span.”

"I will send My terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run. I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.”

"I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River. I will hand over to you the people who live in the land and you will drive them out before you. Do not make a covenant with them or with their gods. Do not let them live in your land, or they will cause you to sin against Me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you." Exodus 23:20-33

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The people of Israel had made it as far as Mount Sinai in their exodus toward the Promised Land. There, they had received guidance from God as to how He expected them to live through the issuance of many commandments. Now, as we see in today’s passage, God was finally ready to send them off to inherit the land He had "prepared" for them but before they left, He had some additional words of instruction that fits the classic "if, then" statement. Let’s take a look again at what God said here:

"See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him.”

“If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out. Do not bow down before their gods or worship them or follow their practices. You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces.”

“Worship the Lord your God, and His blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span.”

"I will send My terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run. I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.”

"I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River. I will hand over to you the people who live in the land and you will drive them out before you. Do not make a covenant with them or with their gods. Do not let them live in your land, or they will cause you to sin against Me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you." Exodus 23:20-33

Here, we see God assuring the Israelites that He would "hand over to” them “the people who live in the land" and in turn, they were to "drive them out." Within these fourteen verses, we find God saying a lot and making many promises but as stated prior, it was all part of the "then" part of the "if, then" statement.

So what was the “if” part?

It’s found in these very specific requirements that God expected the people of Israel to fulfill.

First, they were to obey the angel He sent.

God told the Israelites to “pay attention” and “listen to” what He was saying.

Why?

Because the angel was a spokesperson and representative for God Himself and therefore any disobedience toward the angel was akin to disobedience to the Lord who sent him.

Here’s the “if” statement:

"If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, (then) I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you."

In other words, God is essentially saying, "If you do this, then I will do this."

Or conversely, "If you don’t do this, then I won’t do this."

Second, they weren’t to rebel against Him .

God warned His people to “not rebel against him (the angel) because if they did, then the Lord wouldn’t “forgive” their “rebellion” because His “Name is in him” (speaking about the angel).

Once again, God is making it clear that the angel was representing Him and so any rebellion against the angel was also rebelling against the Lord, an act that was obviously unacceptable and, by God’s own words, unforgivable.

Finally, they were to keep His commandments.

God had clearly told the people of Israel that they were to have no other gods before Him and to worship no idols or graven images. You’ll remember He added that He was a jealous God.

Well, in the passage here in Exodus, chapter 23, we find Him reinforcing that command, demanding that His people “not bow down before their gods or worship them or follow their practices”. Instead, they were to “demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces”. Further, God told them to “not make a covenant with them (the pagan nations and their people) or with their gods”. The Israelites were to not even allow these godless people to “live in” their land because they would “cause” the Israelites to sin against Him “because the worship of their gods” would end up being a “snare to” them. If they were obedient to what God commanded, then He would in turn defend them against all these enemies.

We should note that God knew well in advance that this matter of worshipping false gods would be the perpetual stumbling block for Israel, especially since they were about to integrate with so many polytheistic societies such as "the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites." Unfortunately, we know the people of Israel failed in this area more than any other. They just couldn’t seem to resist the temptations presented by the cultures they were about to encounter.

So in sum, if the people of Israel listened to the angel of God, obeyed him as they would the Lord, and resisted worshipping false gods, then God would make sure they were protected and cared for as they inhabited the land He had promised to their forefather Abraham, the land of Canaan.

This "if, then" arrangement was also commonly referred to as a covenant agreement between God and His people, and soon the Israelites were about to break it and break it badly. In turn, God, as He promised, would then remove His protection over Israel and they would be taken from their blessed land. Indeed, the Assyrians and Babylonian empires would loom large in their future.

Now let’s fast forward to today.

I wonder how God feels about us?

For how often do we fall into the temptations of this world, failing to be obedient to the Lord’s Word, will, and way?

How often does He find us worshipping other "gods" outside of Him?

How often do we fail to listen to Him, feeling we can conveniently violate His commands?

How often do we willingly choose to rebel against Him?

And what’s in store for us for failing in any or all of these areas? Do we underestimate the power of the Maker of all Creation, the One who is the Master over all of us?

Do we see our very lives as anything less than an awesome privilege granted by the Lord God Almighty?

Friends, if we’re honest, we are really no better than the Old Testament Israelites, receiving the Word of God regarding the life He expects us to live and then willfully sinning against Him, snubbing our noses to Him in disrespect and irreverence. We all need to simply bow down and repent, to clear the air and confess our sins, and then give our all for the Lord who has given us everything.

For if we do, if we commit and devote ourselves to live in full obedience to Him, then we can expect that He will bless our lives and do so abundantly all the way to the eternal life He promises all; those who choose to believe in His Son Jesus.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.